On the House

If you’ve been around here long enough, you know that this is a hill we’ll die on: Workplaces were not built with working parents in mind, especially not working mothers. 

For most parents, it comes as no surprise that caregiving is one of the biggest drivers of turnover, burnout, and underutilized benefits. So, why are leaders still ignoring the loud, persistent call for change?

In corporate America, leadership training often focuses on hard skills. Skills like strategic planning, financial acumen, or managing performance are in high demand. 

During her years inside Fortune 500 and biotech organizations, Jess Ringgenberg started focusing on what was missing from all leadership training. 

When two founders combine lived experience with technical expertise, the result is usually pretty impressive. This combination yields a product or service that feels both intuitive and indispensable. 

When Carly Buxton and Michelle Cunningham launched Parentswarm, we wondered how we lived without it? 

Let’s start off with a quick scenario. 

Every parent has been there. The regular sitter canceled. The must-attend dinner that you swore was scheduled for Friday is actually….tonight. 

Whether the reason, you need childcare — and you need it now. You text Lily, but she’s booked. So you text Kaylee, but she is busy until 8pm. She has a friend named Madison who babysat for you once. Then, you reach out to Rachel, but she doesn’t text back right away. Did you try Kaylee? What about Cindy? Who is Madison, anyway? 

If you’ve ever been caught in a scheduling Maelstrom like this, we see you — and so do the two founders of Parentswarm. 

In an era where technology has redefined how families work, learn, and even grocery shop, healthcare has often lagged behind. 

Want to schedule a future checkup at your local pediatrician? Get ready to wait on hold. Hope you like the music! Does every doctor use the same hold music? 

Parents can order diapers at midnight with the tap of a button. But when your child spikes a 103-degree fever at 2 am, good luck. Do you wait it out and worry or drag a miserable kid to the emergency room? 

How hasn’t anybody fixed this problem? 

That’s the problem Dr. Sara Dumond wanted to solve with Pediatric Housecalls. By bringing high-quality pediatric care directly into families’ homes, even at the most conventionally inconvenient times, she’s created a healthcare model that feels less like an appointment and more like an ally.

On the PHC website, one of the tenets of their mission reads, “nothing replaces a good old-fashioned face-to-face, person-to-person connection.”